Groundnut oil dropped to Rs 452 from Rs 470 per 10 kg yesterday. Sluggish demand, continued new crop inflow and setback in the producing centres attributed to the slide, according to dealers. In Rajkot prices quoted lower at Rs 635/640 per 15 kg.

Imported palm oil closed a rupee lower at Rs 371 per 10 kg exclusive of tax on steady inflow. Buying interest however remained dull today. In the global market prices ruled steady at $700 per tonne for nearby delivery and $680/690 for long delivery.

In the city market November delivery was quoted at Rs 365 and December delivery at Rs 363 per 10 kg. Castor oil edged up by Rs 3 to Rs 435/447 per 10 kg on renewed overseas enquiries. Castorseed ready looked firm at Rs.1986/1992 per quintal.

In the futures section castorseed Decemberdelivery commenced weak from Rs 1660 to Rs 1634 before settling at Rs 1641 per quintal as weak Ahmedabad advices prompted fresh bull unloading. Traders were awaiting green signal from the Forward Market Commission (FMC) to trade in castorseed March'99 delivery. In Ahmedabad December delivery quoted Rs 20 lower at Rs 1735 per quintal.

In The Gujarat region castorseed ready delivery fell to Rs 380/385 per 20 kg. Castor oil eased to Rs 430/440 per 10 kg. Hyderabad advices were remained discouraging.

Sugar declines

An easy condition was in evidence on the sugar market due to slack demand.Losing Rs 5 a quintal M-30 were placed at Rs 1475-1530 and S-30 at Rs 1455-1477 ex-godown. Ex-octroi checkpost, the price dipped to Rs 1460-1475 and to Rs 1440-1455 respectively.

In Kolhapur line, delivery orders were indicated at Rs 1420-1430 for M-30 and at Rs 1400-1410 for S-30.

Bullion improves

Gold and silver prices improved further on the bullion market here today. Silver .999 shot up by Rs 75 atRs 7,550 per kg on fresh speculative buying following bullish overseas advices. Silver was up by Rs 95 on Tuesday.

Industrial demand however was at a low ebb, but speculators were remained active buyers in the wake of sharp upsurge in the global market. Traders reported arrivals of 800/1000 kg. of imported silver in the city market today. Delhi was firm and in the global market the white metal commenced firm at $5.12 before concluding the day at $5.07 per ounce.

Standard gold moved up by Rs 15 to Rs 4,305 per 10 gm. Gold .22 carat finished Rs 10 higher at Rs 3,980 per 10 gm. Prices of gold biscuit (116.50 gm.) rose by Rs 100 to Rs 50,400 per piece. In the global market the yellow metal placed a dollar higher at $294/294.25 per ounce.

Grains quiet

A quietly steady trend prevailed on the grains market as activity was restricted.Wheat milling were placed at Rs 755-760 a quintal. North Gujarat Tukadi and 496 were on offer at Rs 775-825 and at Rs 800-900 respectively. Saurashtra Lokvan were onoffer at Rs 775-850 while SW fetched Rs 900-1125.

Rice Punjab permal were on offer at Rs 1000-1200 while old superior Permal fetched Rs 1250-1350. Among pulses, tur Myanmar 1998 were transacted at Rs 2500 and 1997 at Rs 2400. Kenyan tur were in demand at Rs 2375-2400. Green peas USA ruled at Rs 1650 and Canadian at Rs 1100. White peas Canadian ready and October/Novembder shipments were on offer at Rs 1040-1050 and at Rs 1025-1030 respectively.

Cotton gains afresh

Bengal Deshi price continued to spiral up on extremely reserved offerings in the face of investor buying.Bengal deshi price spurted further from Rs 1440-1510 to Rs 1500-1540 a maund spot. J-34 were up by Rs 20 to 25. Saw-ginned good average ruled at Rs 1825-1900 and cart-selected at Rs 1880-1980. Arrivals consisted of 6500 bales of Bengal deshi and 7500 bales of J-34.Sanker at Rs 20,000-20,500 and V-797 at Rs 15,500-15,800 a candy were well-held.

Yarn listless

A listless condition continued on the yarn market on low volume ofbusiness.Polyester yarn grey first quality of medium-sized units 80dn rotoset ruled at Rs 82, micro at Rs 92-93, weft at Rs 78-80 and warp at Rs 88 a kg. 150dn weft and warp were quoted at Rs 60 and at Rs 68-70 respectively.

Delhi

Spices shot up on reports of crop damages from the producing markets while dry fruits were easy in the wake of improved supplies.

Ajwain inferior flared up by Rs 400 at Rs 2800 per quintal on reports of the crop damages in south and western states because of cyclone. Cardamom small, nutmeg and mace also buoyed up on advices from producing mandies.

In dry fruits, as the supply of new goods import, Chilgoza and Pistachio Dodi reacted downward by Rs 10-25 per kg.